Why Quebecers prefer illegal pot over going to the cannabis store

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Why Quebecers prefer illegal pot over going to the cannabis store
The Montreal Gazette speaks with four everyday pot smokers who buy on the sly.

T'Cha Dunlevy, Montreal Gazette
Updated: October 15, 2019

Cannabis has been legal for a year, but 82 per cent of what Quebecers smoked still came from the black market. Why were people going underground when they had a perfectly legal option?

To find out, the Montreal Gazette spoke to four everyday pot smokers who buy on the sly. They listed fast home delivery, no lineups, anonymity and better prices among their reasons for taking the illegal route.

Approximately 150 tons of cannabis was consumed in Quebec in 2017, according to SQDC president and director Jean-François Bergeron in a speech last week. Yet in its first year of operations, the Société québécoise du Cannabis has sold just 27 tons.

That means 123 tons of weed were sold illegally here over the past 12 months, assuming those 2017 numbers from Statistics Canada hold.

“If it’s not SQDC, it’s not legal,” Bergeron said.

He is optimistic the SQDC will eradicate illegal dealers, noting that after a difficult start due to supply problems, the government-run operation has seen a significant upswing in business. As the SQDC approaches its one-year anniversary on Thursday, he estimated it is now selling about 70 per cent of all the pot consumed in Quebec.

And business should only get better: the SQDC intends to double its number of outlets to 43 from 22 by the end of March 2020.

Angèle: ‘There’s a bit of a party pooper vibe’
Angèle has never set foot inside an SQDC store. She and the other three people we talked to did not want their real names used.

“When they announced they were opening, I watched the whole thing with interest,” Angèle said. “But in the first week, there were lineups all the time. Then after that they said they were out of stock and would be open just a few days a week. I laughed.”

The SQDC maintained reduced store hours through May. That was reason enough for Angèle to stick with her regular dealer.

“I call this number that me and my friends have been using for 25 years,” she explained. “It used to be a pager, now it’s a cellphone; the guy is at our house in 30 minutes. It’s so easy. If he’s late, he gives me a little gift and says sorry. Sometimes it’s his cousins or his aunts who show up. And he’s never out of stock.”

Angèle is a real-estate entrepreneur, and smokes at the end of each workday. She could care less about the SQDC’s emphasis on THC and CBD percentages, or sativa vs. indica varieties; she just wants to get high and unwind.

The excess packaging used by the SQDC is another deterrent. She prefers her dealer’s reusable plastic bags, which she returns when she’s done. That said, she hasn’t completely written off the SQDC.

“I’ll end up going one day,” Angèle said. “But for the moment, it doesn’t seem like fun. There’s a bit of a party pooper vibe to the whole process.”

Mathieu: ‘I’ve been thinking about
the ethics of the black market’
It took Mathieu six months before he finally checked out the SQDC.

“I was pleasantly surprised (when I did),” he said. “It made me realize how legal it actually was. It was a shock. I never thought I’d see the day where you could step into a legal marijuana store in Quebec. I was very surprised by how organized everything is, by the different strains and the way it was all presented. I was kind of convinced after that first experience.”

But though he became an SQDC regular for a few months, the Quebec cultural-institution employee has returned to using his dealer of late. The biggest reason is the SQDC’s limited hours and long wait times.

“There are massive lines on the weekends,” he said, “and sometimes a lot of their strains are out of stock.”

On the upside, his dealer has dropped prices to compete with the SQDC. And the in-store experience has taught Mathieu to pay more attention to what he smokes.

“I realized indica is not the right strain for me,” he said. “It brings me down and makes me feel lethargic.”

He anticipates returning to the SQDC more often once it irons out the details of its operation.

“I’ve been thinking about the ethics of the black market,” he said. “As a taxpayer, I’d rather have that money be reinvested in the government and used.”

Dave: ‘My place is a hub of activity’
Dave has been buying his weed by the pound since legalization — but not from the SQDC. The Montreal musician buys from a medical-marijuana dispensary and he has been sharing the wealth.

“My place is a hub of activity,” he said. “A lot of musicians come over here. Most of my friends smoke, so for the past few years I’ve been selling my friends a little weed on the side.”

His buddies have been smoking more since it has become legal, hence the larger quantities Dave has been purchasing. His sideline now earns him around $1,500 per month, he said.

“What was once a little thing I did to help my friend has turned into a significant small business.”

Marie: ‘I enjoy weed the way people enjoy wine’
Marie also buys from a medical dispensary, but in B.C.

“For the longest time, (my husband and I) used local dealers,” said the marketing consultant. “Five years ago, we discovered this B.C. supplier through E-commerce. The quality was mind-blowing.

“All we had to do was claim we had a medical prescription. There was no check done. So we took advantage of that loophole and would get quality bud — much better than we could get here locally, at a better price.”

While buying from out-of-province is illegal, Marie is attracted by the greater selection she finds out west. A self-described “pothead,” she uses a variety of cannabis products, for leisure but also for chronic anxiety and clinical depression — though she does not have a prescription.

“My husband and I enjoy weed the way people enjoy wine,” she said. “We use different strains, strengths and mixtures, and we like specialty buds we can’t get easily. We’re well versed.”

They do sometimes buy from the SQDC in a fix, and Marie admits that it’s getting better.

“But it’s still not what we’re used to in terms of quality, variety and availability,” she noted.

When that’s the case, she sends her husband.

“For myself, as a woman, standing on the sidewalk waiting for access to (an SQDC) store is not comfortable.”